Activision R&D Unveils Eerily Realistic Facial Animation Technology

[Earnest Cavalli]

Activision R&D Unveils Eerily Realistic Facial Animation Technology


The video you're about to watch contains a computer-generated face that is so realistic as to necessitate this disclaimer pointing out that it's not an actual human.

The clip embedded at right comes courtesy of Activision's research and development division, which, as you can see, has been tasked with creating a new generation of lifelike facial animation technology. Granted, this digital person isn't perfect and one can pick out the flaws by paying close attention - most glaring is the lack of proper texture work within the mouth that becomes visible as the lips open and close - but overall this is an undeniably impressive demonstration of the direction computer-generated graphics may take in the near future.

More impressive is Activision's claim that this faux person was rendered on current graphics hardware. We have to assume they mean current top of the line graphics hardware, but still, according to Activision, this face was generated by the same technology you can find on the shelves at your local Fry's.

Despite the impressive aesthetics on display here, it's important to keep in mind that you won't be likely to find these kinds of facial animation techniques in near-future videogames. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 simply lack the necessary power to render such things. That said, you can expect games on the next generation of Sony and Microsoft consoles to take advantage of the concepts Activision's R&D department is employing for this clip. Launch titles may not look quite as realistic as this, but once developers have time to grow accustomed to the new hardware they'll be working with over the next few years, we should see titles that rival or surpass this level of visual fidelity.

In the mean time, consider this nothing more than what it actually is: An impressive tech demo designed to herald a future in which games feature characters with almost photo-realistic pores, skin texture and interplay between bones and soft tissue. Of course, this means nothing without talented artists to conceive impressive ways to utilize this technology, but we'll leave that to the developers to figure out.

Source: YouTube [http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=l6R6N4Vy0nE]

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[UltimatheChosen]

That's impressive, but the current level of graphics is already incredibly expensive to develop for, which is why you see games like Dead Space 3 needing to sell in huge quantities just to break even.

As amazing as it would be to have games with that kind of facial animation, I just don't think it's an economically sound move. I can't even imagine how many man-hours it would take to render an entire game with that kind of fidelity.

 

[Pinkamena]

I agree with UltimateChosen. Unless this technology is implemented with powerful tools to automate the process of creating the model, textures, rig and animations, I don't see it getting much use.

 

[Hagi]

That needs a disclaimer?

I mean it's very impressive and all. When it's not moving.

But that's not a smile. And unless you've got some sort of growth on your inner cheek that's not how you talk. The whole thing just doesn't move right. Animation-wise that thing is still very firmly in the uncanny valley.

All this really demonstrates is that whomever made this thing simply doesn't understand what makes things look lifelike. It's not the graphical fidelity. It's movement and animation. Things have to move naturally, organically. Then they'll appear life-like. I've seen robots, the ones that are nothing but a metal frame, that appear more life-like than this thing, because the motions they go through are simply right.

 

[CriticalMiss]

Impressive technology, but we all know that it's going to get wasted in CoD.

 

[Worgen]

It's impressive but still pretty much in the uncanny valley.

 

[Voulan]

It's impressive but still pretty much in the uncanny valley.

I agree. I mean, it is bloody impressive to look at, and I was actually surprised at how realistic it looked, but there is still definitely something off about it. Perhaps it needs more Emotions.

Captcha: Mark it Zero.

That's a bit harsh, I think it was a job well done.

 

[T'Generalissimo]

*snip*

The eyes stretch in some exceedingly uncanny ways when he raises his eyebrows too.

 

[ScrabbitRabbit]

Sanity snippage

My thoughts exactly. Seeing such a realistic face move like that was creepy beyond belief. It's incredibly impressive tech, but I can't say I'd actually wanna see it implemented as is.

I wonder how it would look if you applied this kind of fidelity to a stylized game? Something with the art direction of, say, Okami or Skyward Sword? I'm thinking more the polygon counts and texture quality here.

 

[Do4600]

This is going to suck a budget dry. They should be focusing more on 3d facial mocap and improving the fidelity and textures of the result. Having an animator work eight hours to reproduce something an actor can do in 10 minutes is so wasteful.

Spoiler: Three Years Ago

 

[vallorn]

You can tell by the textures and the edge of the lips.

That's impressive, but the current level of graphics is already incredibly expensive to develop for, which is why you see games like Dead Space 3 needing to sell in huge quantities just to break even.

So if money is polygons and polygons are emotions, how many emotions is money?

According to sales numbers. Emotions is money at ratio of 1:4. And this is so many emotions...

 

[Falterfire]

Impressive technology, but we all know that it's going to get wasted in CoD.

Honestly, if the CoD juggernaut has the money to build increasingly complex pieces, it doesn't matter if they don't get used again for CoD. What's important is that then those resources exist in a form they could potentially be borrow by other Activision devs for other games.

NOTE: This is mainly true in my ideal world where Activision is staffed by people who care about good game design and careful use of programming resources.

 

[dalek sec]

It's impressive but still pretty much in the uncanny valley.

Pretty much this. Hell, just looking at the mouth as it talks pretty much gives it away for me since I usally look there sometimes when someone talks. It's still very impressive but I can't even begin to think of how this would be a drain on a games budget. Honestly though, I'd rather have an amazing story and tight gameplay than more details like this.

 

[Lazy Kitty]

Well, all we need now is a character creator for characters like that and an oculus and we'll all have the avatars we want to look like.

 

[Dr.Awkward]

Interesting, but likely to be left behind if shared or priced incorrectly. In this day and age, it needs to be made clear that it's more important to price your middleware within reach of indie budgets instead of hoping to rake in the big cash from AAA developers looking for the best technology that can run on consoles. Otherwise, it's going to never unlock its full potential unless it reaches the hands of a few unsavory types. Accessibility is key!

BTW, look at Jorge Jimenez's homepage. He's one of the guys responsible for several programming advancements like this:

http://www.iryoku.com/

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

You know, it's very realistic, but as far as I can tell it's just throwing more polygons and animation points (read: more power) at the same techniques we're currently using. The Source Engine does the same basic thing, just less photo realistic.

[sub][sub][sub][sub]Also, that thing has dead eyes. Why was a disclaimer needed again?[/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub]